Amelia is about 18-20 years old and she’s recovering from neglect and starvation. We initially thought she was pregnant, due to an increase of swelling in her udder, but it turned out that this poor mare had mastitis. She was treated with antibiotics and soon recovered. Amelia is a very sweet mare who loves to be petted and scratched. She came to us a bit starved for affection, and is quite happy to be loved on.

All SAFE horses are adopted with a no-breeding clause, no exceptions.

Amelia Today

What a sweetie! Amelia loves to be loved on, and once she knows you’re a friend, she is very well mannered and has the potential to be a kid’s horse. Amelia came into SAFE troubled and as a result, has some residual hesitations with new people. She’ll need a family with good horse sense but once she trusts she is very amiable. Our SAFE Horsemanship volunteers have worked to develop her soft and responsive feel, and with her health stable, she is ready for a companion home–or with the right family, a child’s saddle horse for light riding.

Trying to figure out why a horse is perpetually itchy can be a frustrating, head-scratching, expensive experience. Our last-ditch effort before jumping to allergy shots for Amelia was the elimination diet. Cutting out all of the things she is potentially allergic to in her feed regimen seemed to make a difference, but once bug season rolled around this spring there weren’t really any better options. Being on an oral antihistamine twice daily helped quite a bit, but even with that she continued to scratch. Dr. Lewis of Rainland Farm has been the veterinarian overseeing her recently, and she suggested that our next move be to start hyposensitization injections, or allergy shots.

The solution that we’re injecting was compounded based on the results of Amelia’s allergy blood panel that was done a few months ago. A lab creates this solution by adding small amounts of the things that she’s allergic to. We began injecting Amelia with tiny amounts of this liquid every other day. As time goes by, the time between injections gets longer and the concentration of the liquid gets stronger. The idea is that these increasing amounts of allergen will eventually make her immune system tolerant of the things that cause her itchiness.

Amelia doesn’t mind the injections at all. The needle that we use is tiny, and she gets a little reward after each shot. Once we’re through this initial course of injections (it will take a few more months), she’ll get put on a maintenance schedule. Those shots will be spaced farther out, but her future adopter will need to keep up on them if it turns out that this is the answer to her allergy woes. Luckily, the hyposensitization treatment is relatively inexpensive. We’ll be saving a lot of money by going this route than by giving her the antihistamine twice daily, and it will be nice if we can keep her allergies at by eliminating the problem at the source rather than just suppressing her symptoms.

Amelia has been moving along steadily in her training with horsemanship volunteer Phoebe. They have been able to take thing slow and at a comfortable pace for Amelia who has had some trust issues from her past life. A few weeks prior to the clinic, Phoebe was able to sit in the saddle and Amelia did very well for a little stroll around the round pen. She was relaxed and cooperative with Phoebe aboard. While Amelia’s days of being a regular riding horse are probably behind her, it’s very possible she could be a nice leadline mare for a family with kids who want to start learning to ride.

Here is an update from Phoebe about Amelia for the recent Joel Conner Horsemanship Clinic:

This was another breakthrough for Amelia and I. For me, more confidence with a better understanding of how the exercise Joel teaches us, translates into free feet under saddle. Her right shoulder drops inward on a unified circle, so I need to strengthen her hind so she is more balanced. She has steadily become softer but she still had a very hard time going backwards. This time, after substantial effort to resist on her part with stiff forelegs and head up, she finally gave & her feet broke free. It was a beautiful moment for both of us! She is much better at moving her front over and I am much better about knowing how/when to ask. Although I only worked with her on Friday, we got a lot done.

Miss Amelia is doing very well at SAFE. She has a great friend for turnout in Tabitha, and her overall happiness seems to have increased. We have been working her a few times a week on the trail obstacles at Safe Harbor. Her behavior continues to improve but she still seems uneasy when tied up and groomed. If we don’t tie her, she seems a bit happier. It’s possible she had a bad experience while tied at some point in her past.

Last week we took her out and hand walked her on the trails. She really seemed to enjoy being out in the woods with her friends. She walked over the bridges and was unbothered by noisy cars, a wood chipper, bikers, and kids playing in the park.

To find out why she is still itchy during the winter months without the presence of bugs, we decided to do an allergy blood test. In addition to being allergic to flies, we found out that she is also allergic to alfalfa hay and rice bran. We have taken her off senior feed and California Trace because both contain those allergens. She eats hay but doesn’t eat enough to maintain weight, so she needs extra calories. To do this, we put her on timothy pellets and LMF Super Supplement for vitamins.

We have also been trying to help her roached back. Dr Meyer from Pilchuck has come out twice so far to help adjust her and give her more comfort. The first adjustment was difficult, and Amelia was very reactive and even kicked out during the adjustment. The second adjustment was MUCH easier, and Dr Meyer said that she had held much of the adjustment. We will be having her seen again in hopes that the muscles along her spine will have relaxed and gives her more comfort. At that time we will see if she is comfortable enough to carry a saddle and rider. It would be nice if she was happy carrying a rider for lead line or trails. She loves kids so if that is possible, she may find that to be a great future.

Last weekend, volunteer Phoebe took Amelia into the Horsemanship groundwork class. They have a beautiful connection and Amelia is very happy when Phoebe is working her. She still tests Phoebe from time to time, but Phoebe’s kind manner helps Amelia feel love and support. Here is what Phoebe had to say about her experience with Amelia in the clinic:

Although I only got to attend the Saturday & Sunday groundwork sessions, I don’t think it affected the strides forward that Amelia accomplished in her understanding, willingness, and skill set. She retained a good attitude with soft eyes and a willingness to try . The biggest “a-ha” moment for me was realizing how front heavy she is, and how setting her back before beginning her next step was a big help to her, to the point that she was beginning to set herself back by the time we finished the clinic. She is starting to back in circles left and right – and staying soft, which for her is huge. Her neck was hard as a washboard 4 months ago. It is wonderful to see the partnership she is willing to offer as she builds a hesitant foundation of trust.

Amelia has been dealing with loose stool since before her arrival at Safe Harbor Stables. It has been a frustrating trial and error endeavor to try to find the best management option for her. Our vets recommended multiple treatment options, but just when we would start to think we’d found the answer, her loose stool would return. Bloodwork and fecal tests first to rule out anything we could that way, then slow feed changes, first cutting hay versus second cutting hay versus alfalfa hay, probiotics, intestinal protectant feed additives, different probiotics, restricting fresh grass intake, the list goes on. After her loose stool went to straight diarrhea, she was prescribed metronidazole, an antibiotic and antiprotazoal medication that has an anti-inflammatory effect on the GI tract.

For a week she was on a three times daily treatment plan, which had Bonnie out at the barn to give a late PM dose each night. After her diarrhea returned after the seventh day, Dr. Fleck suggested we drop to twice daily administration for a course of 30 days. She is now at the tail end of this course of medication and her stool has been completely normal for a couple of weeks. Hopefully when she comes off of the metronidazole she will remain stabilized and that will be the end of it. Fingers crossed!

Glowing reports on Amelia’s progress from our Horsemanship Volunteer Phoebe! We will be talking with Joel Conner during this week’s clinic about his thoughts on offering her as a very light riding horse or a kids lead line. She is a sweet girl and in the right home she will be a great family member. Here is what Phoebe had to report:

Amelia – sweet, easy going but always checking to make sure she has a safe person to follow. (testing – swinging head around with intentions of possible bite, sometimes, but thinking better of it) she seems to be more aware of her handler & what they are asking – I think she might have just completely tuned out her former handler and it became habit. Learning a unified circle with nice bend both directions and still working on keeping distance equal all the way around. Better though! She is learning to follow soft feel for a one reined stop and I still think she may be a great kid’s horse.

She is starting to get softer and more responsive! We even broke into a trot to the left in the unified circle & she held good form and space for a little bit. I’m starting to get her to follow a feel into a one rein stop. Both sides. I cinched her up with the rope, and sacked her out. She did great of course. The bumps on her back are smaller. What a great kids horse she has the potential to be!

One of our wonderful Horsemanship volunteers, Phoebe, has been taking time to get to know Amelia. She seems like an old soul with a rough past. Her eyes are still lost…not quite ready to relax into the feeling of comfort or peace. But hopefully with all the love and extra attention from Phoebe, we’ll start to see her open up and start trusting people again. here is what Phoebe had to say about Amelia:

I have had the privilege of working with Amelia over the last couple weeks. The first time I tried to brush her she reached around as though to bite, but if I stroked her neck while brushing her belly, she totally relaxed. She is totally chill now to brushing. No bite. I’ve roped her fronts, she was fine, her right hind she kicked & protested but figured it out pretty quick and was good about me cleaning it once that was established.

She seemed very dull to human contact at first, but is becoming more aware & seems almost relieved to not have to be the alphaa anymore. She is smart, picks things up quickly, and wants to please. Her ground manners when being led are SO much better! She is learning to read me when walking on the lead, stopping, backing. Still working on the unified circle, didn’t have much chance to revisit that last week. What a calm, friendly, respectful mare she is! And what a great kids horse she could become. I can see a 4 year old loving on her, and her eating it up. Just my opinion at this stage. She is beginning to follow a feel consistently when asking for a one rein stop, both sides, is slowly learning to back up when asked, but not good at yielding her front – really dull, but not bad at yielding her hind.

Dr Holohan, DVM from Pilchuck Vet Hospital did an examination of Amelia today and determined that she is not pregnant, but is suffering from mastitis, which is causing swelling and edema in her udder and abdomen. Amelia has been prescribed antibiotics to combat the infection, as well as stripping of built up fluids and cold hosing to relieve her discomfort. Mastitis is not very common in non-lactating mares, and can be very painful and uncomfortable. However with prompt treatment, it can usually be treated without lasting negative effects. Amelia is such a sweet mare, and she’s been living very rough for a while, so we are glad to be able to provide her with some relief and get her back to good health. We are also relieved that she is not pregnant, because at her age she deserves to take it easy and be pampered. Hopefully there is someone out there who can offer her a nice home where she will get the care she deserves.

SAFE has two new intakes to introduce to the community. Both of these horses have suffered some pretty serious neglect, and both have a long road of recovery ahead of them. Fortunately, that roads lead right through Save a Forgotten Equine and our rehabilitation team!

Orion is a tall, strapping young lad, about 5-7 years old, whose body looks like he’s been through a war…covered in scrapes and cuts. He also was apparently hit or kicked in the face at some point, which resulted in a fractured lower jaw and several teeth knocked askew. He’s had surgery to remove the broken teeth as well as the impacted and infected food that built up in the space, and he’s feeling much better now. He’s also got some swelling in one of his hind legs, but x-rays came back clean and he appears to be sound on it.

Amelia is about 18-20 years old and she’s recovering from neglect and starvation. So imagine our surprise when this sweet old girl started showing signs of being in labor! Sadly it does appear that she is pregnant although at this point we don’t know if the foal is viable or how soon she might give birth. She’s under a vet’s care, and will be examined by an equine reproductive specialist from Pilchuck later this week. She is a very sweet mare who loves to be petted and scratched. She seems quite starved for affection, and quite happy to be loved on.

It’s times like these that we are so grateful for the people whose donations to SAFE make it possible for us to take in horses like Orion and Amelia and immediately provide them with the medical attention they need. Special thanks to Dr Hannah and NWESC for their support and caring!